Herman Melville is considered to be a great American novelist, and is credited with writing the novel, “Moby Dick”. “Moby Dick” is a novel about voyage of the Pequod seeking revenge on a sperm white whale, Moby Dick.
The Pequod sets sail on Christmas Day from Nantucket port with crew of harpooners and sailors. While sailing along the Pacific Ocean the Pequod has nine gams with other whaling ships. A gam is “a social meeting of two (or more) Whale-ships, generally on a cruising-ground; when, after exchanging hails, they exchange visits by boats’ crews: the two captains remaining, for the time, on board of one ship, and the chief mates on the other” (198). All Americans enjoy a good gam, except for Ahab who only allows a gam with a ship who has seen the white whale. If their reply is no, then Ahab would rather move on as quickly as possible. One problem that seems to reoccur in each of the gams is a communication problem. This is symbolic in that difficulty involved in anyone attempting a conversation with Ahab.
The first whaling ship the Pequod encounters on the ocean is the Albatross. This ship was “bleached like the skeleton of a stranded walrus. All down her sides, this spectral appearance was traced with long channels of
. . .
Ahab remembers that he has a letter he is suppose to the deliver to the deceased Macey and attempts to pass it on, but is stop by Gabriel. Moby Dick is full of foreshadowing and themes, this is just one of the many. Ahab will refuse to listen and want to do it his way. A peculiar and not very pleasant smell was smelt in the sea”(313). The significance with the gam of the Samuel Enderby and the Pequod is that it contrasts the very different attitudes the captains have of Moby Dick. Ahab is appalled and states, “Thou art to damn jolly. Ahab immediately wants to go over and speak with him. This was the ship the Rose-Bud, which is ironically named. However, “it turned out that the Jeroboam had a malignant epidemic on board, and that the Mayhew, her captain, was fearful of infecting the Pequod’s company” (250). The Bachelor captain is a jovial and hospitable, and invites Ahab to “come aboard, come aboard”(375)! Ahab ignores his remark and asks, “Hast seen the white whale”? The captain responds with, “No, only heard of him; but don’t believe in him at all”(375). There is definitely a communication dilemma here; it is that the two ships speak two different languages. This foreshadows the problems everyone has when trying to communicate with Ahab. This scene re-states what Fedallah earlier provided us with, that Ahab would see two hearses before his own death and this is the first. This gam not only contrasts the ships, but also the two captains. Gabriel, who thinks he is the Shaker God, tells Ahab, “Nay, keep it thyself, … thou art soon going that way” (254).
Approximate Word count =
1439
Approximate Pages =
6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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